Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I met representatives of their organisation, Front Line Defenders, and especially people who are providing information on the ground and who want to keep a low-key presence in some of these countries so as not to be identified. We are making efforts to ensure their safety continues. Another point is that at our meeting with Dóchas, we specifically raised the issue, following my bilateral meeting, that there be board representation on the Irish NGOs from the southern hemisphere, where we are delivering so much aid directly on the ground and humanitarian benefit. That change has now been implemented by the Department already this year. When they apply for funding, each NGO that has not already got a member on the full board from the southern hemisphere, is required to put arrangements in place to make it more knowledgeable about the situation on the ground. I am very pleased that has actually happened and is in place this year. We are working, through Ireland's civil society partnership, on A Better World, which is a framework document we are working on with the NGOs and we are achieving considerable increases in overseas development aid, ODA, spending year on year.

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